Guerilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst Review
Don't let that 'Posted By Todd' tag at the bottom of this fool you ... this one's actually from Jim Tudor. Jim has sent us some film reviews in the past and we're looking forward to seeing more of him ...
Sure, we all know that the late 1960s and early seventies were a time of epic civil and political unrest in the United States, but the torrid aftermath shortly following that era is something considerably less well documented. As the country slowly shifted from the likes of student demonstrations and the Vietnam War to disco dancing and the energy crisis, one over-zealous bunch of radicals arrived at the party a little too late. They were the now-infamous Symbionese Liberation Army, a vigilante paramilitary organization devoted to halting social injustices based upon race and class, and ultimately, overthrowing the U.S. government.
At least, that’s the Robin Hood-like romanticized version. Perhaps closer to the mark, the SLA was an unstable domestic terrorist organization led by an escape convict, with members not afraid to kill in order to further their goals. They were also not above kidnapping, and on February 4, 1974, they did just that, taking nineteen year-old college student and publishing heiress Patty Hearst into their custody. This action proved to be the SLA’s most notorious maneuver, as they suddenly found they had the American media eating right out of their hands. Untraceable and able to operate freely, the SLA leaked out various tapes and manifestos at their convenience, and the American public was all too happy to gobble it up. When it came out that Hearst had joined the SLA – eventually participating in an armed bank robbery, among other things - an already unique media frenzy became substantially stranger. What followed was over two years of bizarre turns of events and unsettling lulls in what has come to be recognized as one of the first true media circuses.
“Unsettling” is an apt word for describing director Robert Stone’s documentary on the subject. Having been born around the time of the depicted events, I have a particular fascination with the period. It’s always a little weird to learn of major happenings during one’s lifetime that one has no memory of, but aside from personal reasons, there are reasons outside of the disturbing events themselves to find this film unsettling, one of which is the aesthetic quality of the footage. Guerilla is heavy on archival footage, as scores of reporters were camped outside of the Hearst mansion for lack of anywhere better to go. The discolored quality and graininess of this material is accurate in depicting the uncertainty of the time. These qualities, along with the bad hairstyles and odd fashions of the early seventies, make this a historical documentary that functions on certain cerebral level, recalling the distant past through the filters of interviewees memories and vintage evening news snippets. Although the non-presence of Patty Hearst herself among the modern day interviews is a downside, Stone doesn’t let it become a pitfall in the least, as various media veterans and difficult-to-pin-down former SLA members turn up to give their sides of the story.
Although in its construction, Guerilla is yet another assemblage of still photos, archival footage, and modern-day interviews, it is nonetheless a poignant and informative piece. Even now, nearly thirty years later, the actions of the SLA continue to resonate, as evidenced by recent legal revisitation of the murder of one of its innocent victims. (Myrna Opsahl was gunned down during a 1975 bank heist. The SLA participants were tried and convicted in early 2003.) Whether initially intentionally or coincidentally, the SLA’s brilliant manipulation of a desperate media is as relevant now as then, and stands as a case study in such matters. As for Hearst herself, having gone from naïve victim to brainwashed gun-toter, she’s emerged seemingly intact, occasionally working as an actress (primarily for director John Waters), but will always be remembered as the archetypical Stockholm syndrome case.
Stone’s film, under the gawd-awful title Neverland: The Rise and Fall of the Symbionese Liberation Army, was an Official Selection at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, and rightfully so. The title may’ve changed, but this look into the uneasy fascination with this historical place-marker from a transitional and turbulent era is a worthwhile endeavor, to be sure.
- Jim Tudor
